


Early in the Morning

by haku_jitsu



Category: Naruto
Genre: AU where NaruSaku got married and became the power couple they were always meant to be, F/M, Fluff, Just pointless fluff idk, Just these two being sweet on each other, Romance, Sleepy Cuddles, Vague mention of sexy times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 15:03:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18640507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haku_jitsu/pseuds/haku_jitsu
Summary: Naruto awoke every morning now to the sweet, enveloping aroma of vanilla and cherry blossoms.In the dim light of early morning, he always made sure to take a moment just to silently take her in, before their hectic schedules and fast-paced lives had the opportunity to rip them away from each other for the remainder of the day.He was consistently amazed at how just the mere sight of her, even sleep-mussed and lightly snoring as she was now, still managed to completely take his breath away.





	Early in the Morning

Most mornings, the trace amounts of light filtering in through the blinds was enough to wake Naruto up, much to his displeasure. 

Distantly, he recalled the days of his youth where he had the ability to sleep well into the morning, at times longer than he was even supposed to. Now it seemed he was always drowning in paperwork, as well as the anxiety and frustration that came with overseeing other Shinobi and their often life-threatening missions. It was starting to affect his sleep. Even his dreams consisted of mountains upon mountains of field reports, financial overviews, intelligence briefings and casualty listings. While he loved most parts of it, he was beginning to believe that his younger self had largely idealized exactly what it meant to be Hokage. Or vastly underestimated just how much paperwork it entailed. He wasn't sure which anymore.

Glancing at his clock, he sighed. _05:13_. He wasn't due to be at the office for another two hours or so. 

He flipped over onto his back and stared at the ceiling until his eyes adjusted to what was still near-total darkness engulfing him. His stomach was already lurching at the idea of Shikamaru flooding him with things to do as soon as he got to the Hokage Mansion. 

_Tch, it's just my lot in life now I suppose._ Naruto silently cursed himself for feeling that way, but he couldn't help it. Nowadays he found himself feeling nostalgic for the days when he wasn't the most important man in the village. He wondered if he should maybe take a sick day -- _could he even do that?_ \-- and just spend the day laying around the house doing nothing in particular for once. Surely, Shikamaru would appreciate a day off too, so why not? 

Naruto's train of thought was broken by a shift in the mattress and the sound of a light snore beginning to pick up beside him. He felt the blankets that were covering him up to his ribs begin to slip away, to which he gave a faint smile. _Definitely not getting those back. Sakura's grip is ironclad when she's stealing the blankets._

He directed his gaze at her, taking in her scent and smiling to himself. Vanilla and cherry blossoms, which always completely enveloped him as he woke, even when Sakura was sleeping as she often did, curled into herself in a little ball, back turned towards him, completely cocooned in blankets. 

Naruto had always thought she was beautiful. He remembered being completely enraptured by her pink hair and green eyes as a child, and only entranced further by her cheerful giggles and kind smile. He became genuinely smitten and proud while watching her grow, her strength becoming Herculean and her resolve and willpower even more so. He fell in love when... _Well._ He wasn't sure if he could pinpoint a single moment when he fell. He could just remember one day gazing into her pale green eyes one day while they dined at Ichiraku and feeling something completely... different. He could still remember the way his heart seemed to stop and speed up all at once when she turned and beamed at him, her eyes glittering faintly. 

_"Naruto?" Sakura had said, raising a brow slightly, after he failed to answer the question she had asked him for several minutes._

_"Ah," Naruto replied, snapping out his trance and feeling stupid. "I-I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I, uh, spaced out for a sec."_

_"Everything okay?" she inquired gently._

_"I was just thinking, whatever happened to you and Sasuke? Weren't you... trying to..."_

_Sakura gave a short laugh. "Naruto, that was months ago, and you know he and Karin are now-"_

_"Yeah, but, are you okay with that? I mean, y-you... loved Sasuke, didn't you? Back then, I remember..."_

_Naruto's heart thumped as Sakura released a loud sigh and took a tight grip of his hand in hers. He stared at her, in disbelief, as she quickly shook her head and grunted a bit to herself._

_"You don't get it, huh?" she said, almost sympathetically._

_"Get what, Sakura-chan?" His voice was almost trembling with anticipation and confusion all at once._

_Sakura sighed once more, even louder, and turned her green eyes to look at him. "Naruto, I... How do I explain it? What I felt for Sasuke was... confusing. I held on for far too long to something that I thought was there but wasn't. Sasuke never loved me, not like that, and I don't think he could have. And y'know, I actually don't think I ever loved him either. At least, not like I thought."_

_Naruto almost couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But Sakura-chan, what about-"_

_She placed her free hand over his mouth, and shook her head once more. "I'll explain it as simply as I can for now. Over time, a girl falls in love with the one who supports her, believes in her and... understands her. I'll let you fill in the gaps, but I will say this: for me, that person was never Sasuke. And I guess it took me far too long to realize that."_

_With that, she had stood up from her seat, left the money for her part of the bill on the counter and smiled at him before walking away from the ramen stand._

Naruto smiled fondly at the memory as he watched Sakura's back rise and fall with her breathing. He reached out a hand and softly ran it through her sleep-mussed hair, eliciting a soft whimper from her in the process, to which he quietly giggled. He loved her sleepy noises. They were now on the verge of beating out her angry noises as his favorite. 

He found himself feeling glad he had been able to eventually fill in the gaps, despite the fact that he probably wouldn't have done so without the assistance of Sai and Ino. He recalled feeling really stupid due to the fact that apparently everyone else had realized Sakura's feelings way before he had.

Suddenly, Sakura uttered a faint noise and rolled over to face him, her eyes fluttering open delicately. Upon seeing Naruto gazing at her fondly, her lips stretched into a soft smile. Gods, how he loved that smile.

"Naruto," she said, voice raspy from disuse, "good morning. Everything okay?"

He nodded, smile growing wider. "Yeah. Not a lot could really go wrong with me just laying here like a log. Why do you ask?"

"Because you're just kinda staring at me," Sakura laughed, reaching out her hand to grab onto his shirt. She discreetly began inching herself closer to him. "It's barely even light out, too. Weren't you sleeping well?"

"I always sleep well next to you, Sakura-chan," he beamed. He slipped his arms around her waist and began to nuzzle his face into the top of her hair. "Ya always smell so good..."

Sakura laughed, fully leaning into him now, breathing him in as well. "Idiot. You know what I meant."

"Hey, y'know," Naruto murmured breathily. "We've both still got an hour or two before we've gotta go to work. You wanna-"

"Naruto!" she halfway squealed, halfway laughed. "I'm still so sleepy. I couldn't possibly right now. Besides, I really like how we are right now, I think." 

"Fine, fine," he chuckled, and tightened his arms around her waist, holding her against him possessively. 

They laid in silence for a long moment, before Sakura sighed deeply into Naruto's chest.

"Huh? What is it, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura shook her head slightly, and slung an arm over him lazily. "Nothing in particular. I just sorta- well, I dunno. I was thinking I wish I could stay like this all day."

Naruto gave a soft chuckle. "Sure beats being covered in blood and guts all day, huh?"

Sakura grinned. "Probably beats being up to your neck in boring field reports too."

"It sure does, Sakura-chan. To be fair, though, there's not a lot in this world I'd take over being lazy with you all day."

She unleashed a heavy sigh. "If only."

Abruptly, Naruto cupped her face and pressed a sweet, lingering kiss to her lips. "You smell so good," he murmured, "and I hope you know I love you. I really love you so, so much."

Sakura's heart thumped, and her lips curved into a smile. "Naruto, being so sweet like this..." Her voice took on a mischievous edge. "You just might convince me to fool around some yet."

"Really?!" he shrieked, practically pouncing on top of her, pressing dozens of kisses to her neck and chest.

"Uwah!! Now, now, don't go getting carried away!" she squealed with laughter, threading her fingers into his hair.

Naruto whined. "But Sakura-chaaaaaan. I could really use an energy boost this morning, couldn't you? 'Cause it sure sounded like it earlier!"

Sakura considered for a moment, gazing down at the puppy eyes he was currently making at her. Finally, she spoke. "Fine, fine! But since we've got so much time, let's go slow. I wanna really have my fun with you today."

Naruto shrieked excitedly. "Aah, Sakura-chan, it drives me wild when you talk like that!"

"Duh, why do you think I do it? Shannaro!"

And soon, she was drowned in kisses and a heated embrace.

They were so enraptured by one another that soon they lost track of time and stopped paying attention to how much light was pouring into the room.

And before they knew it, they both ended up being really late to work.


End file.
